Doubt
by SonOfSix
Summary: When Harry Potter's wife suspects him of cheating, she hires Ginny Weasley to catch him in the act. AU H/G
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This will be a multi-chaptered AU fic, I have no idea how long. I'm not new at reading HP fanfiction, but I'm definitely inexperienced at writing, so any suggestions to improve my writing are entirely welcome!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything that goes with it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 1

_I've always wondered what marriage really is. Wedding after wedding that I've attended, I have watched carefully, desperately trying to see if, through the bride's and groom's expressions perhaps, or through the way they hold each other gently yet firmly, I could finally discover the key. Though my research may not have been completely professional, I suppose I have figured out some sort of idea about what is needed in order to love. Sex. Good sex. Without it, that special closeness cannot exist. Then you need friendship, because monotony destroys love. However, what is needed most of all is trust. Trust that your loved one will stay with you even after you've gotten fat and ugly. Trust that your loved one won't judge you, no matter what choices you make. And trust that what you have is not fleeting and will always be cherished._

* * *

Hannah Potter lugged herself up the steps, and then struggled for a minute to fit the key into the lock on the door. Finally, she managed to swing the door open and was greeted by a dark, empty flat.

"Harry," she called, "you home?"

All she received was silence, but she was not surprised. She dropped her hand onto the wall and felt her way to the kitchen, struggling to keep her eyes open. She wanted to go to bed, but with determination took out her little red notebook instead. She craned her head to look at the big clock above the pantry, which was illuminated by the sliver of moonlight coming from the window. Quill in hand, she jotted down two words.

_Four o'clock._

She snapped closed her notebook and thrust it aggressively back into her purse.

_Of course_ _Harry wouldn't be home yet_, she thought. She felt stupid to even hope he would be. Over the past few months, his nights had been getting steadily later and she had been seeing less and less of him.

She stumbled into her bedroo- _their _bedroom, quickly took off her dress, threw it into the corner, and crawled into bed. She curled up, closed her eyes, and slowly drifted into a fitful sleep, plagued by her last thought.

_That bastard_.

* * *

Ginny Weasley wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand, but still managed to paint a line of dust across her face. She glowered at the clutter that was surrounding her. What was the point of magic if you couldn't even use it to lift heavy objects? But she didn't want to risk it; George told her that using magic on his products might trigger some unwanted explosions. Right after that, of course, he had gleefully dared her to try. Kicking the large box she had been trying to lift away from her, Ginny stomped her way out of the inventory room.

"Ron," she yelled into the still empty shop, "I thought it was supposed to be the big, manly men who lifted boxes for young ladies, not the other way around!"

Ron's head appeared from behind a tall, pea-green display of 'Silent Stenchers' and he lifted his eyebrows.

"Hey, no one forced you to volunteer to help George set up his new shop. You can leave anytime you want. Besides, George and I are the only ones who know how to set up the anti-theft charms on the displays and we need someone to fill the shelves with all the extra stock in the back. What, can little Ginny not handle a simple task?" Ron smirked.

Ginny rolled her eyes and scowled, but relented and returned to the back room. It wasn't like she didn't have better things to do! She was starting her own business after all. However, after his challenge, if she stopped lifting boxes, she would never live it down. Ever since she was a small, stubborn child, she insisted that she could do anything her big brothers could do, and more. Also, she knew George wouldn't have allowed her to help unless he was extremely desperate. She smiled wryly to herself. _Desperate_. She hated admitting that any Weasley was badly-off, but George's bleak situation was painfully evident.

After the war against Voldemort had ended four years ago, everyone had slowly returned to their previous lifestyle, or had started anew, finally realizing that they didn't have to be wary of their neighbours or lock themselves up in fearful isolation. Wizarding centres like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were finally bustling with activity, shouting, laughter, and everything that came along with a thriving marketplace. Life was starting to be normal again.

However, Ginny knew that for George, life was anything but normal. Fred had died in those last few hours of Voldemort's reign. Fred, his other half, never got to see the suffering finally end. The last thing Fred experienced was an explosion and most probably a lot of pain. How could George move on and find peace when Fred, who was a part of him, never made it past the misery? In the year after the final battle, nobody expected George to reopen Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but after the second year, Arthur figured enough was enough. He forced George to move out of the Burrow and start working again. George reluctantly started working for Zonko's as a salesman, but refused to even think of opening up his shop again. However, with time, George's brilliant mind inevitably started churning out billions of ideas. Ron's constant badgering coupled with the frustration of working for such a burnt out failure of a prankster like Osmond Zonko brought George to his senses and he announced that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes would be opening within the year.

Despite the raucous celebration that his announcement instigated at the Burrow, the Weasleys soon realized that three years and a rotten job had left George almost completely broke.

"Ginny?" Her musings were interrupted by Ron's voice. She leaned back, looking through the door to see Ron struggling with an angry white owl."Owl for you! Though the parchment is rather odd. It's pink! What kind of nutcase would dye their parchm- Ouch!" The Snowy owl nipped his hand quite hard, ruffled its feathers and flew almost haughtily over to Ginny, landing gracefully on her outstretched arm.

"Thank you Ron. I'll go read my letter now – in private mind you," Ginny said, sending an exasperated glare in her brother's direction. She untied the letter from the owl's foot, gave the owl a grateful pat, and watched it fly gracefully out the door. She quickly stepped back into the inventory room and shut the door tight.

Ginny breathed deeply. She didn't dare clue Ron in while he had the letter, but now that she was alone, she let her eyes go wide. Pink parchment. _My first customer!_ She couldn't believe that someone had already answered her ad in the Quibbler and had actually used the requested pink parchment for identification. She ripped off the string from the letter and unfolded it. Ginny gasped at the identity of her customer.

_Dear Ms. Weasley,_

_I must admit that I was surprised that I came across an ad from someone like you in the Quibbler, such an obscure magazine. But I suppose that it just adds to the mystery of it all. I have always remembered your exploits from reports in the Daily Prophet, and I must say that your skills have impressed me. That is why I am requesting your services. I'll thank you to keep in mind, though, that our business transaction must be entirely confidential. Meet me tomorrow noon at Florean Fortescue's and we will discuss this further._

_Sincerely, Hannah Potter_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything that goes with it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 2

Ginny crossed her legs. Then uncrossed them. Then crossed them. She bit her lip.

_Where is she? It is fifteen minutes past noon already!_ Ginny thought. Ginny knew she was being unreasonable, but couldn't help being anxious. Her ice cream was starting to melt and she wondered whether she should just eat it to keep her mind off of her eminent customer.

Even after a day to contemplate it calmly, Ginny was still on edge. It shocked her on many levels that the wife of the famous Harry Potter would call on her services.

The idea to start up this business had come to Ginny in a startling revelation a month ago. It had started out as an idea for a private investigation agency. Mystery was Ginny's true calling. Ever since her first year at Hogwarts, when she had found a mysterious diary that wrote back and had eventually expelled the malicious memory within it, Ginny had become a magnet for dubious activity. In second year, she had figured out that Sirius Black, the mass murderer, had been penetrating Hogwarts' walls by transforming into an animagus form and she had informed Dumbledore. Of course, due to her young age and insignificance in the grand scheme of things, they had never told her what had become of Sirius Black; Dumbledore merely assured her that Sirius Black would be bothering Hogwarts no more. Then, in her fifth year, she had noticed strange behaviour on the part of the infamous Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. Through her investigations and persistent nosiness, she was able to prevent a full-scale death-eater attack on Hogwarts. It was after this that articles about Ginny Weasley started cluttering the pages of the Daily Prophet. Even her exploits from her first and second years were shared with all of Wizarding Britain. The only person who was given more media attention than Ginny at that point was Harry Potter.

Despite her fame, thoughts of a career were put on hold during the war. Even after the Battle of Hogwarts where Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, she was too busy putting the pieces of her broken family back together to even think of starting her own independent life. However, in the last year, life had started to settle into a safe routine and Ginny became restless. Then, on the fourth anniversary of Voldemort's defeat, there was an extensive article in the Daily Prophet chronicling all of Harry Potter's achievements, starting with his legendary survival of the Avada Kedavra, to his daring ventures in France with his guardian, Lupin, and then his crucial undercover work for the Order of the Phoenix when he was only sixteen years old – _the same year that Ginny had been doing a little undercover work of her own_, Ginny had realized.

Suddenly, Ginny had known her calling. She wanted to catch the bad guys. Of course, being Ginny, she felt that she had to create some sort of twist to it. There were plenty of criminals and dark wizards crawling the streets and being followed closely by aurors and investigators. But who was there to catch mere arseholes? Why should men who use women and throw them away not be punished for it?

So Ginny had asked Luna Lovegood to place an ad in the Quibbler for _Witch's Watch _private investigation service, asking potential customers not to answer her ad using the name of her business – for secrecy purposes - but to identify their intent with the use of pink parchment.

It had never crossed the youngest Weasley's mind that Hannah Potter would be her first customer. It was insane! That would have to mean that Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, was one of those loathsome men, and to Ginny that was a most frightening thought.

Suddenly, she saw Hannah's features, which were familiar to her from many photographs in tabloid magazines, through the ice cream shop's door. Anyone could identify her long, sandy-brown hair and blue eyes from a kilometre away. Ginny straightened her back and rearranged her face to hide her edginess. Hannah spotted her quickly and gave a small smile in acknowledgement, making her way to the table. She sat down in silence, reached a hand into her purse, and threw what looked like a small red address book onto the table between them.

"What's this?" Ginny asked bemusedly.

"Look inside," said Hannah, quietly.

Ginny opened its pages, and saw that every page was filled with recordings of times.

_Four O'clock. Five Thirty. Three Twenty-Five. Four Forty-Five._

"After months of falling asleep before Harry returned home, I started staying up and recording the hour that he'd slip into our bed quietly trying not to wake me. Soon, he started staying out so late that I couldn't possibly keep myself awake. So I started going out and staying out late as well, roaming the pubs, hoping that either I'd find him or that I'd return home the same hour as he did. I never did."

Ginny remained silent, not wanting to interrupt; it almost sounded like Hannah was in mourning.

"We never make love anymore," Hannah continued sadly, "Neither do we argue. It's like he doesn't care anymore, and worse, like he's found someone else." Now her voice gained a hard edge, seemingly brimming with suppressed fury. "He must've found someone else! He's a man, and a straight one at that, but he never looks at me in 'that way' anymore. How do you explain that? He's cheating on me, and I won't stand for it anymore."

Ginny was shocked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and cleared her throat.

"Well, if he is cheating on you, I assure you I will not let him get away with it," Ginny claimed confidently, trying to hide her utter disbelief that Harry Potter could ever be an adulterer. "Right now, you are my only client, so I can devote almost all my hours to Harry. He works with the auror department, correct?"

Hannah nodded.

"Well," Ginny continued, "I can't follow him into the ministry, unfortunately, but I will keep an eye on him at all other hours of the day and night. Just give me his work hours and your address and I'll be set." Ginny hesitated for a moment. "Is there – er – anything else I should know about him that might help me with the investigation?"

Ginny knew that what the Potters must value most is their privacy and didn't want to pry too much. But then Ginny realized that she was being quite dense – to pry too much _was exactly_ her job.

"My guess is that he's seeing more than one woman. He has too many loving fans pouncing on him every day to resist the temptation," Hannah replied derisively, "so be extra-vigilant. I want you to catch him in the act so that there is unquestionable proof that Harry is a cheater and that his gallant image is a complete fraud."

Ginny detected an unguarded bitterness in Hannah's voice. But then she wondered...

"Hannah, I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you ever _ask_ Harry what he did when he was out all those nights?"

Hannah snorted. "Of course I did."

"Well, what did he say?"

Hannah raised her eyebrows and twisted up one corner of her mouth in an ironic smile. "He asked me to trust him."

After receiving Harry Potter's schedule and discussing her daily wage with Hannah, Ginny started walking to George's shop to help with the extra stock. It was one o'clock, the sun was hitting her face, there were families out and about shopping and eating, and it was overall a delightful day in Diagon Alley. However, Ginny felt like she had just been punched in the guts. The next day, she would be spying on Harry Potter to try to find proof of an illicit affair. It was inconceivable. It was absurd! The saviour of the wizarding world!

_Now, Ginny, don't let preconceptions get in the way of your job_, she thought to herself, _Potter, above anything else, is a man. Despite defeating Voldemort, it is entirely plausible that he could be a dishonest husband. _She knew absolutely nothing about him... yet. The next morning, her investigation would start and she would eventually learn the truth.

Comforted by that thought, she reached Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with a bounce in her step. What she saw when she entered the shop, however, stopped her in her tracks. Ginny gasped.

Papers were scattered everywhere. Boxes were overturned. Displays were knocked over. On the far wall which was visible from the doorway were written two terrible words in a sickly green colour.

Blood Traitors.

Ginny sprinted into the shop, searching frantically through the aisles. _Where are George and Ron? Where are they? Oh Merlin! If anything happened to them, I d-_

There was George, sitting on an overturned box with his head in his hands, and Ron pacing furiously up and down the aisle with a piece of parchment clutched tightly between his fingers.

"George! Ron! What the fuck happened here?" Ginny cried.

George and Ron turned their heads toward her. Their eyes were shot.

"Here." Ron handed her the length of parchment he had crumpled in his fist. Very cautiously, she peered down at the words.

_If you do not remove your filthy presence from Diagon Alley by the end of November, you're whole red-headed, blood traitor family will be dead. ~S. _


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything that goes with it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 3

The Burrow that evening was overflowed with concerned faces and quick, hushed voices. George was whispering heated words with Arthur at the kitchen table, near the fireplace, Bill had his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he spoke with a few of his curse-breaking colleagues, Fleur was at the couch with Molly, whose face was pale, rubbing the woman's back, Percy and Charlie were arguing in the corner, and a frowning Ginny was sitting by the window with Neville Longbottom, both of them watching the goings-on.

"At least you know that George has all the support he needs, right? They'll catch the bastard that trashed the shop," Neville said confidently, trying to be somewhat optimistic for his good friend. Ginny attempted to smile, but failed.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied after a pause, fidgeting with her hands, "But after everything that has happened to the man, and after all the progress he's made, why did this shit have to happen?" She started to look somewhat angry. "He was finally moving on, and now I'm almost sure that he'll use this incident as a sign that he should never have opened the shop without Fred, or something."

Ginny had now expressed her true fear. She was indeed worried about the fact that whatever remained of the Death Eaters had decided to target her brother, but she knew that with Kingsley as the head of the Auror Department, that those criminals would get caught, as Neville had so eloquently noted. She was far more worried, however, with the psychological damage this would inflict on George and on his ability to heal.

Ginny and Neville jumped, as suddenly a sturdy man with a gold earring burst out of the floo with three men and two women in royal blue robes in tow. Kingsley and the delegation of aurors had arrived. Now everyone at the Burrow grew silent as Arthur and George stood to greet Kingsley.

"So, what's the verdict?" Arthur asked.

Kingsley sighed. "I've had my men in there the whole day, and I can tell you that the perpetrators left no trace of themselves – no fingerprints, no trace of their magical signature in their spells, and what's most disturbing of all, no dark magic."

"How is 'no dark magic' a bad thing?" Neville called out, confused at Kingsley's statement. Ginny was inclined to agree with Neville. She had always considered a lack of dark magic quite a good sign, in fact. Bill, however, decided to educate them.

"Neville, the lack of dark magic at the scene is disturbing because that is the trademark of a Death Eater. If I'm not mistaken," he explained, looking at Kingsley for confirmation, "during the war, when Death Eaters would attack establishments of muggleborns or their enemies, they would leave behind nasty traps and curses to punish them even further. I know that I was brought to crime scenes several times during the war to break curses left by Goyle or Mulciber." He seemed to shudder slightly at the memory.

"Exactly," Kingsley affirmed, nodding grimly at Bill, and then looking around at the Weasley family. "That is why I have a feeling that this case is going to be harder to solve than usual. It is likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators are pure-blooded and bigoted, but they might not merely be vengeful Death Eaters as we had initially expected. This is bad news because we have experience catching Death Eaters, but not much experience catching Death Eater copy-cats."

George finally piped up. "So what should I do about the note, Kingsley?"

"I strongly urge you not to give in to the threat. Hopefully by the end of November, my team will have solved the case and you won't have to worry. In the meantime though, Auror Gelson here," Kingsley indicated the petite woman in royal blue to his right, "she will work undercover in your shop to investigate suspicious behaviours and act as a bodyguard for you." She gave George a polite smile reached her arm out to shake his hand. George shook her hand, looking blank.

"Nice to meet you, I guess, Auror Gelson - under the circumstances," said George, his eyes taking in her stiff posture and his mouth quirked slightly to the side.

She smiled politely again, and replied, "Likewise. Call me Angela. If you don't mind, now would be the best time for me to brief you on safety procedures."

"Not at all. Follow me," George said, and led her to the sitting room to discuss their security plans.

A few minutes after that, the Burrow started to clear, since the details of the investigation had been settled, the Aurors had left, and everyone needed to return to their respective homes and get some sleep. Ginny and George, however, remained sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow, sipping tea in silence, since they were both too agitated to return to their flats, or to talk. Ginny gripped her mug tightly as she reflected upon everything that had occurred that day.

_What was I thinking_, she thought, _when I accepted the job from Mrs. Potter?_ All the talk about investigations had reminded her about her own little investigation that she was supposed to begin the next day. _Here I am, utterly clueless about how to help George and about the dealings of criminals, and I think I can go up against the great Harry Potter! And my case seems so trivial now when compared to George's issues. Plus, the stress of this whole ordeal will probably make me botch up the job. Maybe I should just tell Mrs. Potter to find someone else._

But then Ginny shook her head. _I'm being irrational. George has a whole team of Aurors working on his case. He'll be fine. All Mrs. Potter has is me, and I promised her that I would follow Potter around and bring in proof of his affair. I have a professional reputation to uphold. Plus, I'm getting paid._

Ginny realized that her trepidation stemmed from the fact that Harry Potter had been her role model and the inspiration for her career. The fact that now she had to spy on him was a little ironic and more than a little frightening. However, Ginny resolved that she would have to find a way to get over her nerves if she wanted to act competent the next day. She must be composed.

Just as Ginny made that decision, Ron and his fiancée Hermione burst through the front door with a loud slam and Ginny spilt her hot tea all over her lap. She yelped.

"Let me get that," Hermione said, and swiftly waved her wand, vanishing the spilt tea.

As Ron and Hermione sat down across from Ginny and George at the table, George was looking at the couple expectantly. Ginny had forgotten about Ron and Hermione with all the commotion. _What had they been up to all day?_ However, by the way Hermione seemed to be bursting to tell George some news, Ginny figured that she would find out quite soon.

"So," Ron began, "we went over to Filmore & Filmore's to inform them, and-"

"-and they were not happy at all," Hermione continued. Ron rolled his eyes, but he seemed used to this behaviour from Hermione, since he gave a little smile. "After all that they invested in your shop, they were upset to hear that you might be forced to close it so soon without turning a profit."

"Wait. Who are these Filmore people?" Ginny interjected.

"_Filmore & Filmore's Financing_. It's a loaning agency. That's where George got the money to reopen the shop," Hermione answered. "The two Filmore brothers are the richest muggleborns remaining after the war. They were able to avoid Death Eater attacks by moving their practice to the muggle world, and that's where they got even richer, since muggles have always done better in business than wizards." Hermione said the last part with a small smirk.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ron, lightly elbowing Hermione. "Anyways, we spoke mainly with Dan and he was conflicted, since he's concerned for your safety, but also wants the shop to stay open so that you could pay him back. Although, Hermione and I personally think he was a bit more concerned for himself since he _very regretfully_ informed us that he'd have to raise the interest rate on your payments to ensure his financial safety in case you do close." Hermione huffed indignantly at the thought.

"But anyways, whether or not they raise the rate," Ron continued, "if you close, they're screwed."

George frowned, and seemed to slowly deliberate his next words. Ginny suddenly and sadly realized how much George had changed in the last few years. When Fred was alive, he would have made some wicked joke about Ron's last words, but now he just spoke solemnly.

"You don't suppose…" George trailed off.

"Suppose what?" Ginny asked, curious at the weird expression on George's face.

"You don't suppose that the Filmores set this all up to make money off of me?"

Ginny was shocked at the idea. Apparently, so were Ron and Hermione, since they gave George the most incredulous look.

"Listen, George," Hermione said, "yes, they are raising your interest rate, but honestly, there is no way that they could profit from your store closing. As Ron said, if that were to happen, they would be 'screwed' alongside you."

"You're right," George agreed, rubbing his eyes wearily, "I don't know what's gotten into me. I think I've gone batty from all the attention I've been getting tonight. In fact, I think I'm going to head home and get some sleep."

After all the goodnights and goodbyes, Ginny returned to her flat as well, disturbed by George's thoughts, but also determined to get a good night's sleep in preparation for her day of subterfuge the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything that goes with it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 4

Ginny's heart was pounding as she sat at the bar at the Leaky Cauldron. She was looking around at the small number of patrons in the old pub. Since it was only seven in the morning, the riff-raff that usually plagued the establishment was absent and replacing it was a weary-looking bunch of businessmen and bureaucrats, recognizable by their work robes, probably stopping by for a bit of breakfast before trudging off to work. Thanks to Mrs. Potter, however, Ginny knew exactly who one of the tired working-men would be. Hence, the incessant pounding of her heart.

_So_, Ginny reminded herself, _according to the client's information, the subject should arrive at the pub at around seven o'clock in the morning every week day. Then, he will floo to the ministry to start work at eight thirty. Once inside, the subject will either stay there for the whole day doing paperwork, or his superiors will send him on an assignment and he will return to the ministry at the end of the day. Either way, once work is over at six thirty, he will leave the ministry and disappear somewhere, not returning to his home in Diagon Alley until early the next morning._

Ginny had decided the previous night to refer to Potter as "the subject". It was the only way to ensure that she remained objective. She had also decided that while he was at the ministry, she would not attempt to spy on him. She knew that to leave him unobserved for several hours would set her back, but the fact that he was an auror dissuaded her from trying. She wasn't afraid of him, but she knew that an auror's work was extremely classified and very crucial to the safety of British wizards, and if she were to interfere, she could jeopardise the secrecy of her subject's work. Perhaps she was being too cautious, but she knew that _Witch's Watch_ had to uphold a reputation for integrity, and to risk the ministry's secrets was to cross the line from being an investigation service to being a criminal spy agency.

Ginny tapped her foot against the leg of her bar stool. She bit a fingernail. She checked her watch. _Seven fifteen. Where is he? _Mrs. Potter had told Ginny that her husband was almost obsessed with keeping to his schedule, "unless, of course, he is supposed to meet me," Mrs. Potter had spat scornfully, Ginny recalled.

Ginny admit to herself that she couldn't imagine her subject at the Leaky Cauldron anyways. _The Great Harry Potter, in a place like thi-_

_Shit, _she thought. _I wasn't supposed to think of him like that!_

But she was diverted from her self-rebuking thought right then, because she suddenly spotted Harry Potter sitting at a small table a few meters away from her, sipping a coffee and concentrating on reading a piece of parchment. She almost fell off her stool from the shock.

_How the hell did I not see him before?_

But Ginny was almost positive that the table Potter was sitting at had been occupied by a plump man with a large blond moustache only a few seconds before.

She also noticed that despite Harry Potter's sudden appearance at the pub, nobody was paying any attention to him. In fact, it was as if they didn't even know he was there. Instantly, Ginny realized what was going on. _An obfuscation charm! How clever._

He was using an obfuscation charm so that whoever was looking at him would see instead a pudgy, blond man. The reason Ginny could see him now, she guessed, was because she had thought of his name. She supposed that Potter would not want to be completely undetectable, so he had set up a feature to the charm that would allow people who urgently needed to speak with him to be able to see him. Only people who specifically needed to talk to him would think of his name deliberately.

Ginny thought that her usually unfortunate inability to think of the man objectively turned out to be quite useful today, since if she hadn't slipped up and thought of him as Harry Potter, she never would have found him.

Since Potter seemed not to be in any rush to leave the pub yet, Ginny allowed herself a few minutes to observe him. _He's quite handsome_, she thought. Indeed, he had a healthy looking face, bright green eyes, and dark, shaggy hair which hung across his forehead a bit, hiding his famous scar. Despite not being able to see his scar, Ginny knew it was him, since she had seen his photograph in the Daily Prophet on several occasions, and had even seen him in person. That had been four years ago, though, during the Battle of Hogwarts, and she had only seen him from afar while he took down Voldemort. She did notice that in the four years since the age of seventeen, Potter's shoulders had broadened and his jaw had squared a bit. He definitely looked like a mature man.

Ginny convinced herself that her observations were merely for professional reasons. After all, she did need to know what the man looked like if she was going to follow him for the next while.

Ginny saw now that Potter was starting to gather his possessions and was getting out of his seat. _But it's only seven forty five. He doesn't need to floo to work yet. _Indeed, he wasn't heading toward the fireplace as he should have, but was heading toward the small courtyard at the back of the pub which led to Diagon Alley. According to Mrs. Potter's information, this would be unusual behaviour on his part, so Ginny decided to follow. _The investigation begins!_

With a subtle flick of her wand, Ginny's hair turned from bright red to dark brown and her freckles disappeared. She didn't need anyone recognizing her while she was following a subject. She watched as he opened the brick wall to go into the alley and as soon the wall closed behind him, she ran into the courtyard, tapped the bricks, and opened the wall for herself. Once she was greeted by the bustling crowd of Diagon Alley, hey eyes scanned the area for him. Suddenly she saw him, several meters ahead of her, walking leisurely down the street. She followed behind him from a safe distance, always keeping one eye on him, but also trying to blend in with the crowd by occasionally checking the price for a jar of flobberworms or pretending to admire the display outside of Vivian's Voodoo Shop. Ginny felt really proud of her stealth skills, because she was able to slowly follow him more closely and he did not notice one thing.

Ginny's senses went on alert when Potter swiftly turned right and started heading into an alleyway between a magical relics shop and a grocer's. Ginny became excited. _This could be the location of a secret meeting_, she imagined. She plastered her back against the wall right outside the alleyway and slowly started peeking in. She saw nothing. _Where did he go? He can't have gone f-_

Ginny held in a scream as she was forcefully pulled into the alleyway by an invisible pair of hands and pushed up against the wall. All of a sudden, she felt a wand pressing into the side of her throat and saw a pair of bright green eyes glaring menacingly into her own. It was an irate Harry Potter, and it seemed that he had known that he was being followed. Ginny could hardly breathe.

"Who are you?" he growled, "Who sent you, and what do you want?" His face had drastically changed from when he was in the pub. Then, it had looked pleasant albeit somewhat bland. Now, his nostrils were flared, his eyes were wide, and Ginny could swear he was showing his canines. Her pulse was racing. She honestly feared for her life, but couldn't for the life of her think of what to tell him. So, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Can I have your autograph?"

"What?" Potter's face went slightly slack, and he released some of the pressure of his wand from her neck. He seemed quite confused, so Ginny decided to continue along the same line.

"Merlin, I can't believe I finally met _The_ Harry Potter! I've dreamt of it for ages, so when I saw you this morning, I just couldn't help myself." Ginny put on the silliest smile she could think of and tried to imitate the mannerisms of Ron's ex-girlfriend Lavender. "Oh god and your strong hands are actually touching me, oh, I'm the luckiest girl in all of England!" And then, for good measure, Ginny let out a very girly squeal.

That seemed to do the trick. By the time Ginny finished her fan girl rant, Potter had let go of her and his face had returned to normal. In fact, Ginny was sure that he was blushing.

"Well, er, I..." he stammered, "I guess it was a misunderstanding, er.."

"So can I have your autograph?" Ginny asked again, putting on her best impression of one of those ridiculous girls and a wide smile, enjoying seeing Potter look so embarrassed. It was extremely cute.

"I, er, have to go..." he said, evading her question, and then he swiftly turned around and left, his face still red.

As soon as she was sure he was gone, Ginny's face reverted to its usual form, and she let out a big sigh of relief. Her blood was still pumping with adrenaline, and her chest was still heaving. She had faced an angry Harry Potter and she had survived. As she left the alleyway, she decided that she'd take a break from the investigation until the next day, since she didn't yet have a lead on where he went after work. She realized that she never did find out where he was going, but decided that since it was now eight twenty five, there was not much Potter could do in the five minutes he had before work. She had experienced enough excitement for one day anyways, since she had gotten caught by the man, and had gotten away.

To be perfectly honest, Ginny couldn't believe that Potter had actually fallen for her crazy fan girl act. But he had. Ginny mused that maybe all of her practice as a child lying to her brothers and acting innocent with her parents after having misbehaved had finally paid off. _Or_, she thought, _maybe Potter believed my act because he has truly met women who act like that with him. _That last thought was enough to make her gag. Ginny had no respect for women like that.

As she returned to the lively horde that was Diagon Alley, Ginny had another interesting thought. The Harry Potter that she met in the alleyway was a different man than his wife had made him out to be. Sure, Ginny had somewhat expected his fierceness and strength, since he was a trained auror. _But what had Hannah Potter said? __"My guess is that he's seeing more than one woman. He has too many loving fans pouncing on him every day to resist the temptation." _From what Ginny could tell, Potter was not the type to enjoy the attention of his fans. For Merlin's sake, Ginny had made one comment about how strong his hands were and he was blushing and stammering like a school girl. However, Ginny was not one to discount Mrs. Potter's theory altogether. Just because it was unlikely that he was shagging his fans, it didn't mean that he wasn't having an affair at all. Perhaps he had fallen in love with someone else, or was being seduced. There were many possibilities.

One thing that Ginny did know, though, was that she would have to construct a better plan for trailing him the next day, because she knew that if the same fan accosted him two days in a row, he would definitely grow suspicious. And with that nagging consideration on her mind, Ginny headed home.


End file.
